merri kurisumasu!

merri kurisumasu!!!!


lucky for me, it wasn't a lonely christmas after all.  i spent the morning enjoying hawaiian sweet bread french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, portuguese sausage, ginger scones, and apple cider with the urquidi family.

this is minami - she's four.  she's seriously my mini-me.  we have so much fun together - we like the same kind of snacks, little mermaid, hello kitty, the color pink and nail polish!  

has any of you had this???  spam flavored mac nuts?!??!  i have yet to try it - i'm a little scared!  

merry christmas from the hostesses at the original roy's in hawaii kai!  aren't they so cute with their santa hats???

i had the privilege of getting my kitchen training this past week; getting trained in the kitchen where roy's first started - amazing.  this is part of my training that i was very much looking forward to since i never got my kitchen training while i was in la.  here's just a sneak peak of what i helped prep and other beautiful dishes created by my brother and executive chef, chris garnier.

this is my brother, chris.  chris is somebody who truly inspires me and pushes me to not only what i want to do, but do what i love to do.  he understands me very well and has guided me throughout my career with roy's.  he's definitely roy's boy for life!

can you see how excited i am to go into the kitchen???

next up...  prepping.  first off, i cannot cook for crap, i can bake though!  i can't do the "little bit of this, little bit of that", "a pinch of that", and "to taste" thing.  i need to have a precise recipe and i can do it!  therefore, i am a great prep-cook. 

chris recently put garlic butter baked escargot on the menu and it has been a huge hit!  i've heard many guests say it's the best they've ever had!  amaze!

first off...  cook off the escargot in red wine, basil, thyme, shallots and garlic.

place two escargots in each puka (hole).

buahaha slug butter - this is slightly inappropriate but it's funny.  this delicious butter paste is a mixture of herbs, shallots, garlic, eggs, salt and curry powder.

spread the butter generously over the place - making sure each puka is filled and lather the top.

and then vuu-wa-la!  beautiful and smells so good.  i'm so embarrassed to say, i have not tasted the slugs yet - i am afraid.  i'll take everyone's word for it.  has anyone else tried it?

when i did my day 2 kitchen training with chris, he taught me how to make lobster sauce, sweet ginger wasabi sauce and the red wine shiitake demi glace.  all at the same time.  hahaha it was pretty intense.  since i'm short, i was on my tippy-toes trying to stir the pot and i was perspiring more than i like.  i worked a little bit during service - helped garnish and sauce plates.  it was very educational and such an exhilarating experience!  i cannot believe i didn't get the proper training years ago - what the heck!!

this is the view from inside the restaurant.  we have THE best view of the sunset EVER!  it amazes me everyday that this is where i get to work.  thank you, roy.

"ekolu farmed" nalo baby romaine, "wow" tomato & sumida watercress pesto with sesame miso dressing.  it's meant to be a deconstructed salad.  what a brilliant idea!

this is the infamous hawaii kai style crispy crab cakes with spicy sesame butter sauce.  i recall a lot of guests in la jolla and la asking why we didn't have the crab cakes on the menu.  i have no idea why...

this one is a new one, created by one of the guys in the kitchen, dougie.  big island abalone a la bourguignonne with waialua asparagus, ho farm's tomatoes and shiitake.  

one thing i love about the produce we serve is that we support all the local farmers on oahu.

  

one of my favorite, dean okimoto - he owns nalo farms in waimanalo.  most of the vegetables we have at the restaurant are from his farm!

this is from three summers ago, dean gave me a tour of his farm.  so cool!  

this is hawaii kai's version of their misoyaki butterfish.  comes with forbidden black rice, honey glazed carrots and sweet ginger wasabi sauce.  it's very different of what we serve on the mainland - that one comes with furikake rice, bok choy, green beans and sizzing soy vinaigrette. 

this is the u-10 scallops with herb risotto on the bottom, 2-hour egg on top, crispy pork belly and poha berry pickled sauce.  so this two hour egg is kept in a water that remains constant at about 60 degrees - this way, the egg will never completely boil.

this is the jidori chicken served with polenta, broccoli rabe, ho farms tomatoes, crumbles of big island goat cheese and preserved cherry gastrique.

this is the fire grilled filet mignon served with onion mashed potato, green beans and creamed corn sauce.

this is the provencal crusted rack of lamb served with kabocha puree, braised fuji apple, stilton blue cheese and spiced port wine reduction.

this is sous chef, mark gedeon.  small world - i used to work with his brother, joe gedeon in la jolla!  mark just celebrated his "dirty-thirty" birthday!  he's also engaged AND expecting a baby.  he told me that even before he met me, he and his fiance were planning to name their baby "aya" if it was a girl!  awwwwww so precious right!?!?!

this is jason (j-bomb).  we're always partners when it comes to playing games - darts, shooting pool and bowling.  always a good time!

to end on a fun note, this is us after work at the shack.  so typical and i ♥ it.

so i have yet to take a walk through the city lights in downtown on king street.  last day of the lights is january 2nd, so hopefully i can take that walk soon.  wish me luck!  hehee.